Lower your birth rate, Kenyan families urged

• Five children per woman is too much for the country to bear, they advise

Despite the fact that Kenya was one of the first countries in the sub-Saharan Africa to develop a national population policy, the policy remained unimplemented until 1977, when findings from the World Fertility Survey (WFS) indicated that Kenya had one of the highest fertility rates in the world — eight children per woman.

But with the promise of more support from donors, family planning institutions aimed at significantly lowering birth rates.

An official at a family health organisation, who asked not to be named in this story, said that their target was to reduce this number to three children per woman by 2015 and to two children per woman by 2050.

“This is the only way we will have a population that will not strain the country’s resources,” he said.

Increased funding

The family health providers say that increased funding would go a long way in improving the rates of contraceptive use among Kenyans.

Contrary to popular belief, it has been found that family planning is most common among unmarried couples rather than those who are married.

It has been established that as young couples enter into longer relationships, the use of condoms for protection against pregnancy as well as for disease prevention declines.

Mr Odhiambo attributes this to the manner in which some contraceptives have been marketed, as well to as to various myths associated with contraceptive use.

Contraceptives

“Some of the most readily available contraceptives like condoms have not been marketed as contraceptives but as disease-prevention tools. Once a new couple begins to trust each other on health matters, they shun condom use and expose themselves to unwanted pregnancies,” said Mr Odhiambo.

This perceived trust and failure to use contraceptives, Mr Muchira said, has led to yet another problem.

“Approximately 308,000 unsafe abortions occur in the Kenya annually. About 48 per cent of the abortions occur among women aged 14 to 24 years, most of who assume to be in steady relationships,” he said.

Family planning among married women with a primary school education or lower decreased from 23 per cent to 16 per cent between 1998 and 2003, the period of study.

Use among those with a secondary school level of education increased from 52 to 62 per cent.